It’s not just meal prep that’s in the lurch because of th economy, all businesses are suffering. However, if established stores aren’t able to make it through this downturn, I don’t see how short lived ventures like meal assembly even stand a chance? One thing that still strikes a cord with me is how customers “can’t believe” a store is closing when the haven’t visited for the last six months or more. If you, and hundreds more like you, aren’t offering your business to an owner, what do you expect will happen? It seems like the epitaph of meal assembly will be, “But I was planning on coming in next month”.

After months of slow sales, family businesses are being forced to close, ending legacies and leaving behind a wake of sad customers and loyal employees. “Some family businesses that were just hanging on have said it’s time to get out,” says Dann Van Der Vliet, director of the Vermont Family Business Initiative at the University of Vermont.